The Assassin of Gun Gale
by Jeremi963
Summary: Based a few months after the third Bullet of Bullets tournament on the American servers. Must read for summary.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**AN: This story takes place several months after the Bullet of Bullets 3 of the American servers. It switches between the point of view of two characters. Comment below to tell me what you think.**

**(Bail)**

Bailey ran down the sidewalk carrying a large bag with two boxes inside that had cost her a year of her life. It had taken exactly 35 weeks of babysitting, dog watching, and newspaper delivery to save enough money for the first box, but the other only took 17.

The first box contained an AmuSphere, a device that almost everyone else in school possessed. Unfortunately, her parents were stubborn and wouldn't buy her one because of what had happened in Japan with Sword Art Online, although she was eventually able to convince them that couldn't happen again due to AmuSphere's newer technology that prevented such an event to occur, but they still refused to pay for something like that and told her that if she wanted one she would have to get a job and pay for it herself. She had, however, played one before at friends' houses, increasing her drive to own one for herself.

The second box was a game that she had heard of before, but had not actually ever played. It was, at the moment, the only game that people played professionally and for money: Gun Gale Online. She had played other games like it, but none for the AmuSphere, and she was excited to be able to make more money off of her investment.

She turned the corner off of Main Street onto Second Street and from there to Third until she reached sixth. She climbed the stairs to her house and ran inside and up the stairs to her room. Her parents were not home and would liable not be for an hour or two, just the right amount of time to test out her new AmuSphere. She kicked off her shoes and jumped on the bed with the bag in front of her. She slowly reached inside and carefully pulled out the box containing the AmuSphere. She opened it up and took out all the space-fillers called "manuals" and sat them on her nightstand. She took out the AmuSphere and its cord, staring at them both. She quickly plugged the cord into her computer and put the game disc inside. She laid back on her bed with the AmuSphere on her head, squirming into a comfortable position. She closed her eyes carefully.

"Link... Start!" she said loudly. She felt her body go numb for half a second as her nerves were linked into the game.

Bright lights streamed across her sight but stopped with a language selection screen, at which she chose English. Next it asked her to insert login information to login to her AmuSphere. She inserted the information she had made at one of her friends' house, Bail as the username. "WELCOME" appeared in large bold letters. She assumed next she would be placed in a character creation area like other games she had played, but instead she found herself in a spawn base. Several other players were engaged in conversation around her. She looked down at her equipment: a plain white shirt and dark gray pants. Her hair was light brown as it was in the real world. She walked off of the platform and through the street. Signs were hung up everywhere, some advertising shops and others about quests.

"Join Bullet Biters!" one man yelled from the side of the road. Around him there were three other people talking to a few others about what Bail could only assume was whatever 'Bullet Biters' was. They were all wearing fairly nice gear, each one decorated in white camouflage with a unique patch on their right shoulder. Bail looked around curiously before walking over and watching. "Join the twentieth highest ranked clan on the server! No minimal level!"

_No minimal level?_ Bail thought. _I guess I could use some higher ups watching my back._

"What's this about?" she asked causing the three that were standing around the first to turn to look too.

"_What's this about!_" the first said loudly before laughing with the three at his sides. He placed his right fist over his chest before starting on a well rehearsed speech. "This is Bullet Biters! Twentieth ranked clan on the server! People in all other clans move out of the way when we walk down the street out of fear! Our domination is unmatched and our prestige is unrivaled!"

"Um, actually it would technically be rivaled by nineteen other clans," Bail said quietly. All four of them stared at her for a few seconds before the lead busted out in laughter much louder than before, attracting many of those along the street to stop their conversations and look.

"I like this kid!" he said. The three around him chuckled slightly. "You know what? If you're interested, here's the location of our HQ," he said sending her a message in his dialogue box. "Keep that confidential, would ya? Come by there if you're interested in joining."

"Thanks," she said quietly and interested, then she walked away. She kept walking down the road. She looked up at the signs and tried to look for a location on one of the gun shops, but they didn't seem to help, so she continued walking.

"Pst!" she heard from nearby. She looked around, but couldn't seem to find who made the noise. "Pst!" the noise said again, but this time she was able to locate the noise maker from an alley on the side of the road. She inched closer and pointed to herself as if to ask "Me?" "Yeah, you. Come here." She walked closer to the alley. "What do you know about the Bullet Biters?" a voice, clearly male now, asked.

"Not much, they just seem rather arrogant." The voice in the alley was silent for a few seconds, but then started to laugh before he walked out. He wasn't much. He had an armored bandana above a face full of stubble, but the rest of his armor looked light. He was unequipped except for a short knife attached to his thigh.

"They've taken a particular liking to you," the man said.

"I've noticed," she said. "What's it matter?"

"I'm sorry, you're new, aren't you?"

"Yeah, first day."

"Of course, I'm sorry. My name is Carter, co-leader of Rebellion, the twenty-first ranked clan on the server. Bullet Biters is our rival clan."

"Bail. So you want me to stay away from them?"

"Oh, no, absolutely not! You see, ranking on this server is based on PKs, you do know what those are, right?"

"Player kills?"

"Correct, and, understand, Rebellion doesn't need help with PKs, even if there are only three of us."

"You're ranked 21 and there are only three of you?" Bail asked unbelievingly.

"Oh, yeah, you see, we're... better than your average player to say the least."

"So what do you want with me?"

"Well, first, we've got to get you stocked up. This way." Carter began walking down the street ahead of her. "In case we get spotted by one of the Bullet Biters, you've never seen me before, alright?" She nodded. "Good." Carter continued leading Bail until they reached a large building with signs all over it advertising their prices. He opened the door and allowed her in first.

The indoor walls were covered in large signs showing inventory. Each one was electric and showed ten to twenty items depending on the size of the wall. Bail stared upwards at the walls trying to decide where to start.

"First things first. What stats are you planning on specializing in. There's agility, which is speed, Dexterity, which is accuracy, and strength, which affects carrying capacity."

"I don't know, what are you?"

"Me? I'm strength and agility."

"Strength? Then why aren't you carrying anything?"

"If you get your strength stat high enough, you unlock an ability. It's pretty useful." Bail looked at the walls again.

"I still don't know, what does this have to do with my weapons?"

"Are you familiar with the class system in GGO?"

"No, I wasn't asked to choose a class when I started."

"Oh, no, classes in this game aren't static. You know about sniper and soldier, right?" She nodded. "Well, see, both are just forms of layouts, templates for play. If you want to be a sniper, you simply buy a long distance weapon and light armor. If you want to be a soldier, you buy an assault rifle and medium armor. Other classes are scouts, berserk, artist, tank... They're endless. Just depends on what you want to do."

"What are you?"

"I'm an artist." She gave him a peculiar look. "It's short for martial artist. If you get high strength you unlock a quest that grants the Army Combative skill. It gives you the ability to grapple people and take their weapons to use against them." She looked at the walls again.

"I think I'll go with soldier. It's probably best for my low level, right? And, besides, if I don't like it, I can always change later."

"Okay, right over here. Assault rifles." Bail awed at the selection on the walls, but it seemed Carter was looking for one specifically.

"Here we go, the Twenty-Two Black Claw Tactical Assault Rifle, but most people just call it the BC-TAR. It's light so it's within your carrying capacity, good accuracy and moderate damage." He selected it. "Hm, two hundred twenty five thousand credits isn't bad. Come here, place your hand." Bail followed directions and placed her hand on a pad. "Now select your color." She slid her finger along the color selector and stopped on black. She pressed 'accept' which took her to a payment screen.

"Insufficient credits? I've only got one thousand credits!"

"It's okay, just pay for it."

"That's all the money I have!"

"Just do it, alright?" The two of them stared at each other intensely for a few seconds until Bail pressed accept. The price for the weapon dropped down by a thousand.

"See? Now what?" Bail asked, but Carter was already in the process of placing his hand on the pad and paying for the rest of it. A small bot came from around the corner and stopped in front of Bail. The assault rifle appeared in front of her.

"Thank you for your purchase," the bot said with a smiley face on its screen. She grabbed the gun with both hands and the bot drove off back towards the direction it came.

"Come on, we're going to go get attachments for your gun," Carter said walking in the other direction.

"How much was that one thousand credits worth?" Bail demanded to know.

"Like, eight cents."

"Eight cents!? I thought this was a professional game! I thought people made money off of this game!"

"They do."

"Well how am I supposed to get any money at this rate! One thousand credits for eight cents!?" Carter stopped walking and slid down his side menu bar, selected inventory, and slid the menu around for Bail to see.

"Wha- twenty million credits!?"

"See? You get more. They're not even that hard to come by once you know how to play. That's only about a hundred and sixty dollars. We've got a lot more stored up, this is practically pocket change. The professional players make about eighty million credits a week, a bit over six hundred dollars. Now hurry up, we've still got to get you armor and what not." Carter continued leading Bail to the other side of the store in silence for a few seconds.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked quietly.

"Because the Bullet Biters have taken a liking to you and we need information from them."

"I don't know how to do that."

"It won't be hard, just be yourself, you'll find out in time." Carter pulled to another stop with the wall full of gun attachments. He selected a short range scope and a shoulder strap and paid for them. The bot drove up and gave them their items then drove back. "Attach those."

"How?" Bail asked. Carter grabbed her hand and made the sliding down motion with it. He used her hand to touch inventory then the gun. Then he used her hand to poke the two attachments. A dialogue box appeared in front of her menu and asked "Would you like to attach 'SHORT RANGE RED DOT SIGHT' and 'PLATE-FIBER SHOULDER STRAP' to 'TWENTY-TWO BLACK CLAW TACTICAL ASSAULT RIFLE'?" She selected the circle and both appeared on the gun.

"This way," Carter said leading her to a nearby wall with ammo and mags. He added eight magazines to the cart, each filled with ammo and bought it. The bot drove up and the ten magazines appeared in a pile above it. Bail went to pick it up, but Carter stopped her with one hand. "No, no, don't pick it up, you'll drop them all. Just add them straight to your inventory." Bail tapped the pile and the dialogue box appeared. She selected the circle and the pile disappeared.

"Last thing is armor," Carter said walking towards another wall. "Here's where you get to choose. I don't really care what it is. They've all got about the same stats. Just make sure you get medium class armor." Bail looked over the wall and spotted a black armor piece with a metal chest plate that covered down to below the rib cage and two metal sleeves that went from the wrists to the elbows. The black underneath the metal that extended to the waist was made of Kevlar-like material. It also came with a set of pants made of the same material with the plating over the knees and around the ankles.

"This one," Bail said pointing.

"The Carbon Plated Synthetic Material Suit? High defense for a medium class armor, but it looks like it affects your aim a bit, although your gun's aim should compensate for that." Carter placed his hand on the panel and purchased it. The bot came and Bail equipped it. "Let's go try out that gun," Carter said leading her to the back door.

On the other side of the door was a long shooting range with several people inside firing their weapons. He led her to an empty station.

"Go on ahead, aim at the target." Bail placed her gun on the counter and pointed it at a paper target. She placed her right index finger on the trigger and began seeing a circle in her vision that was increasing and decreasing in size.

"You're seeing the aim assist, right? The circle?"

"Yeah, what do I do?"

"That circle is to help you when firing your shot. When you pull the trigger, your bullet is going somewhere in that area randomly. The best thing for you to do is fire when the circle is smallest. Although, if you were to not have weapons with any kind of sights on them, such as my knife, your aim would be entirely dependent on your skill with the weapon."

"How do I get it to go smaller?"

"Sit still, slow down your breathing, and, if you are in a situation where you can, hold your breath right before you fire." Bail closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, then when she opened them, held her breath and fired. Carter turned and pulled the target in. The bullet grazed the outer ring of the target.

"What! Let me try again!"

"Go ahead," he said letting the target out again. Bail flipped the switch that turned it from semi-automatic to full automatic. She slowed her breathing and pulled the trigger, trying her hardest to keep the gun steady, and remained holding the trigger until she had fired about sixteen shots. Carter pulled the target back in. Many of the bullets that hit the target, about nine, had hit on the outside of the rings entirely, a few hit within the rings, but one bullet knocked out the center.

"YyyyyES!" Bail shouted jumping.

"Come on," Carter said walking towards the exit. "There's something else you've gotta try."

"Did you see that!? That was great!"

"Yeah, you did very well."

"Did you hit the target your first try?"

"No, which was why I immediately tried to get the Army Combative skill, so I didn't have to use them anymore." Bail smiled.

"So where are we going next?"

"There's a training station nearby. It's like a game, but, for lower levels, it gives a lot of experience." Carter led her outside of the store and down the road.

"Hey, what classes are the other two in your clan?"

"Well, Blade is a sniper. And Jeremi is... well... Have you heard about Kirito?"

"The co-winner of the third BoB Japanese tournament?"

"So you have done your research. Anyways, Kirito created a class called Berserk. People called it that because no one had ever used a photon sword as a primary weapon. But Jeremi created a class, too. By mixing the Berserk class with the scout class, a class in which someone usually equips a stealth device and attempts to attack from behind lines, and the warrior class. He has high strength and agility, and if you get your strength high enough you're allowed to switch out your grenade weapon slot for another secondary weapon. He carries an assault rifle, a pistol, and a photon sword. He calls it the Assassin."

"Cool! But what do you mean a stealth device? Wouldn't those kind of items be OP in a game like this?"

"Oh, they are. Some are temporary perks that last about ten seconds, or there is some equipment, usually used by snipers, that hide you as long as you sit still. But the kind we have is total stealth, and, as a matter of fact, only a few high level boss monsters have a chance of dropping it. It's called the Metamaterial Optical Camouflage Mantle."

"Then how'd you get one?"

"Well, we were on a quest in one of the lower dungeon floors. The objective was to escort an npc to another dungeon floor, but we were having a hard time doing it, so we went back up and found a tank class, a person who carries a heavy weapon, usually a minigun, and went back through. But this time, Jeremi spotted a shortcut, clear as day on the map, so we decided to take it. Fortunately for us, it was a monstrous level boss. The four of us barely made it out alive, but, since the tank was the one who dealt the most damage and killed it, the item fell into his inventory. A rare item like that though... It wasn't hard for the three of us to kill him since all of our health was so low, and we claimed the item for ourselves since he hadn't had time to bind it yet. Here it is."

They arrived at the building. It was a plain box building and it didn't seem to get many visitors. Carter held the door open and allowed Bail to go in. Most of the room was sectioned off for different things: One section was weights and punching bags, another was a small obstacle course, and another a shooting range, but Carter led her to one side of the building that had glass windows looking in and a door that was locked by another hand panel. Inside the room were several boxes and low walls that were presumably used for cover.

"Name of the game is Onslaught. The objective is to get in this room and survive the waves of enemies. You can move around freely, use the boxes for cover, et cetera. You go as long as you can before your health hits zero, then you get xp based on how many waves you last. Want me to go first?" Bail nodded. "Okay, pay attention."

Carter walked over to the door and placed his hand on the panel and paid the charge. The door opened, and he walked inside. A circle appeared above his head with the number three in it, then slowly counted down to zero and said 'START'.

Three doors opened around the room and each one yielded a bot wielding a pistol. Carter dashed towards one at an alarming speed. The three bots all turned to him and fired. He rolled behind a box to the left of the bot he was running at. The bot turned and aimed at him. Carter quickly stood up, dashed the rest of the distance between them, and grabbed the bots wrist. The other two bots turned and aimed at him. Carter flipped the bot over the box between them and held it in an arm lock between the other bots and himself. The bots fired, both hitting the bot in the side. Carter kick the bot in the head, knocking it backwards but still holding onto its arm. He hit down on its elbow and moved its arm around, aiming the gun at the bots face and pulling the trigger, destroying the bot. The other two bots fired again and he rolled behind another box, pulling his knife out of the sheath on his thigh. He jumped over the box and charged again. They fired several more shots, but Carter dodged them swiftly. He punched one in the face and turned to grab the other by the arm. He twisted its arm down and stabbed it in the face. As the other one prepared for another shot, he backwards kicked the gun sideways, grabbed its wrist, swiped down on its hand to disarm the gun, and kicked it backwards against the wall. He turned around and fired the gun at point-blank range to destroy the bot.

The text over his head read 'WAVE 2' but Carter had already selected forfeit. The door unlocked and he walked out.

"Think you've got it?"

"Yeah, I think," Bail said walking to the door.

"Now, when you're in there, every time an enemy bot fires, you will see a red line coming at you called the prediction line. This happens in real combat, too, and your objective is to dodge the line. Simple. Now get in there." Carter placed his hand on the panel and paid for another round. The door unlocked, and Bail walked inside. A counter appeared above her head and in the top of her sight, starting at three but going down to zero and saying 'START'. Bail quickly rushed to one side of the room and crouched behind a box. Three bots came out of the doors on the sides, each holding a handgun. Bail looked over the box and aimed at one, trying to slow her breathing, and fired on automatic. Several bullets missed, but the bot, along with another standing nearby, were both destroyed. The remaining bot turned and fired at her. A red line extended from the tip of the barrel just before the bullet the gun fired. Bail turned and ducked behind the box, an action that was entirely unnecessary due to the fact that the bullet missed entirely. She rolled out into the open area and fired at the bot, hitting it in the side and damaging it slightly. The bot aimed again and the prediction line hit directly on her leg. She rolled again, escaping the bullet, and fired several shots, a few hitting the bot and destroying it.

"WAVE 2" appeared above her head and in the top of her vision. She quickly jogged to a nearby low wall and crouched beside it. Four bots, each wielding a handgun, came out of the doors on the wall and immediately aimed their guns towards her and fired. She covered her face and moved closer to the wall until the bullets stopped. She looked over the wall, aimed, and fired, but only two bullets came out before it clicked. The bots aimed again, a few of the prediction lines hitting her face. She quickly ducked behind the wall again and the bullets went just over her head. She looked out the window on the other side of the room, Carter standing there with a large grin on his face, clearly thinking the situation was humorous.

"What do I do?" she said loudly, although the soundproof window likely blocked the sound. Bullets fired again, all hitting the wall. Carter smiled as he held up an imaginary gun, took the magazine out of it, then tossed it to the ground. Bullets hit the wall again at a different angle than before as the bots were moving around for a better shot. Bail quickly took the magazine out of her gun and tossed it sideways, only to have another appear in her hand fully loaded. She put it in the gun and looked over the edge, firing at the closest one and destroying it. Two more came around and aimed at her, both prediction lines landing on her. She turned and jumped over the low wall, evading the bullets, then fired at them both, destroying them, only to be met by a swift, unnoticed bullet to the back of the head.

Bail respawned on the outside of the door beside Carter who was leaning against the glass.

"What happened!"

"You didn't check the other side of the wall. One of them was right there next to you when you jumped the wall."

A small window appeared in front of Bail with a few numbers and a bar. The numbers of one subtracted and added to another, filling the bar, then another window appeared above it and said 'LEVEL UP!' The two windows closed out and were replaced by a window with several three letter abbreviations for different skill types with different numbers at random beside them, and beside those were plus buttons. A number at the bottom clarified that she had three spendable skill points.

"What do I do here?" Bail asked.

"Spend two on dexterity and one on vitality. Your aim is the area you're having problems with, so you should work on that before you worry about your agility." Bail clicked the buttons and the window closed out. Carter appeared to have seen something that was in his field of vision and not hers. He swiped down his menu bar and selected messages, read one, then closed it out. "I've got to go. IRL stuff. Wanna meet back here tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Okay, four o'clock EST?" Bail nodded. "Catch ya later, then." He selected 'LOG OUT' and disappeared.

**(Jeremi)**

Blake woke up in the real world with his AmuSphere over his eyes. He sat up slowly, careful to not do so too fast or he would be dizzy the rest of the night. He took it off and placed it on the nightstand beside him. He stood up and walked into the kitchen where his two brothers were sitting for dinner with a plate of cold pasta in front of them.

"Who made this?" he asked.

"Mom or dad, one," Douglas, his older brother, said. "It was left on the stove to keep it warm. They're in bed already." Blake walked over to the table and sat down. Douglas got two forks and began to divvy it out.

"Blake and I killed two Wraggbeasts on one of the lower floors today," Dillan, Blake's younger brother, said. "It dropped two gold horns a piece! How much do you think they'll go for, Doug?"

"Probably around 10K a piece," he answered. Douglas finished distributing the food and sat down, all three beginning to eat.

"How was she?" Blake asked across the table to the older boy.

"From an objective stand point or a subjective stand point?"

"Either."

"Well, she's a quick learner in combat, although it's clear that she doesn't have that much practice with the full dive technology."

"But can she do it?" Douglas shrugged.

"So long as she doesn't have to deal with combat, probably. Either way, though, she's going to need help."

"And she'll get help. Did you get a chance to see her in combat?"

"Yeah, we tried onslaught. She almost made it to the third round."

"That's pretty good for a noob, but she's going to have problems if she gets into a fight with Bullet Biters."

"What are you planning, Blake?" Dillan asked. Blake scratched his chin with one hand as he twirled his pasta onto his fork with the other.

"Don't know yet. Spy mission... Stealth mission... Raid mission... I don't know. I'll figure it out."

"Have you figured out what it is they're hiding?" Douglas asked.

"A weapon. Powerful."

"What kind of weapon?"

"Not sure yet, but while Dillan and I were on the lower floors, we heard a few Bullet Biters talking about a quest item. Ultra rare class, probably a heavy weapon or a sniper rifle or something of the like."

"Ooh! If it's a sniper rifle, I get it, right?"

"I don't know," Carter said grinning. "I might just decide to take it."

"What!? You only have three skill points in aim! And you only have those because you had to carry that lousy pistol in the beginning of the game!"

"It's not too late to reassign all of my skill points and go all the way with aim."

"With all the skill points you have, it'd cost us three hundred dollars just for that!"

"Dillan, calm down," Blake interrupted. "We don't even know what it is. And, for that matter, we don't even know where it is or how we're going to get it yet."

"But you're going to find out, right?"

"Of course I am."

"What happens if Bail fails?" Carter asked.

"Then I guess we go back to square one. Not like we have many options without her."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**(Jeremi)**

The end-of-day bell rang the next day and Blake walked outside amongst the herd of all the other students. He sat on the bus and pulled his laptop out of his bag. Douglas and Dillan soon walked on the bus and sat near him.

"Find anything out about the weapon yet?" Douglas asked.

"Not yet. I've been watching their clan's forums and chat discussions all day, but not even a mention of it."

"If it's as good of an item as you say it is, they might not want to talk about it in chat. Wouldn't want anyone else to know about it."

"Yeah, but I did manage to find a meeting place and a time."

"Are we going to get Bail involved?"

"Probably, but there's just one problem. The meeting place isn't inside of SBC Glocken."

"Where is it? The Ruins?" Dillan asked. Blake shook his head.

"It's over in the Wasteland towards the destroyed temple." Blake pulled up a map of the area on his computer. "Now, it looks to me like their planning an ambush."

"An ambush?" Douglas asked. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, if they were planning a get together, they'd do it at the Caliber Tavern like always." He zoomed in on a bit of the map. "They were mentioning something about this area, though they didn't say what it was. Lots of coverage, at least three vantage points for sniper fire, and if the enemy was walking towards the area there'd be nowhere for them to hide."

"So what? There are places like that all over GGO."

"One of them said they had hired a tank, not exactly something someone does for a party."

"So... what? What are we going to do?" Dillan asked. Blake sighed.

"Nothing, I guess. Doesn't have anything to do with us or the ultra rare item. I guess we just keep snooping around until we find something useful."

Five stops later, Douglas, Dillan, and Blake got off the bus and walked up the stairs and inside.

"Are we meeting at the usual?" Douglas asked.

"Yeah, don't forget to bring Bail." Blake said. The three of them split in different directions and walked to their rooms.

Blake kicked off his shoes and laid down on his bed, placing the AmuSphere over his head.

"Link start!"

**(Bail)**

Bailey rushed inside the house with just a few minutes to go until her arranged meeting with Carter.

The previous day after Carter left, Bail continued training at the game Onslaught until she had reached level ten and the game no longer allowed her to gain experience. She had made it as far as round eight, fighting some bots that carried photon swords and others that carried automatics like her, each round increasing in the number of opponents.

She quickly ran upstairs, kicked her shoes off, and laid on the bed with the AmuSphere over her eyes. She stretched out and relaxed.

"Link start!"

Bail appeared back in the training building.

"Over here," Carter said sitting on one of the exercise machines. He stood and walked over to her. "I see you've leveled up quite a bit. That's good. Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"We've got to go meet the others. Probably going to go Dungeoneering." Carter led the way out of the building and down the road. "You're going to need to restock your ammo. Over here." He led her over to what appeared to be a post box with a screen on the front. "This is called an ammo-box. Put your empty cartridges in here." Bail touched the screen which opened up her inventory. She selected her empty cartridges, and they disappeared from her inventory. Carter placed his hand on the window and paid for the ammo. The box opened at the bottom with her filled cartridges in a pile. She poked them and added them to her inventory. "Good. Let's go."

Carter continued leading her to the edge of the city. There was a small lot of vehicles, each one with a tire clip to keep it from going anywhere unless paid for.

"It's too far to walk," Carter said. He placed his hand on a panel on the corner of the lot and rented one. The tire clip released on a dune buggy, and Carter and Bail walked over to it, Carter getting in the driver seat.

"Where are we going?" Bail asked again, not feeling answered as of the first time.

"There's a place out in the wilderness that we meet up at. Doesn't get many people coming through there." Carter backed up slowly, then gassed it suddenly when he was aligned with the open wilderness that stretched outwards of the city.

**(Jeremi)**

Jeremi and Blade opened the door that led out of the dungeons of the wilderness, an area of GGO with no grass, trees, or vegetation otherwise, and trees around were near oases or the few notable landmarks spotted around the wilderness. The vehicles they had used to get there had long since respawned in a more reasonable position, but it didn't matter. They didn't have far to go. Blade settled his sniper rifle on his shoulder with the shoulder strap and Jeremi let his assault rifle fall back behind his pistol holster.

"What are we gonna do, Jeremi?" Blade asked.

"I don't know. We might go up to the Ruins and clear out the spawns up there. Head over to the old highway and clean out some players? Not sure yet. There's the abandoned shack." The shack had been HQ for Rebellion since Jeremi, Blade, and Carter had got the game and were running from a few higher level players. They'd found the shack and hid, the marauders going right around them. Now, on the other hand, if they were in such a situation, the three of them would have no problem taking them. The shack was more than suitable as a base. There were very few monster spawns, and what did spawn took only a minute to clear out. Most other players avoided the shack since it was not in line with any dungeons or major monster spawn points. Jeremi and Blade both drew their pistols.

"It doesn't look like Carter's here yet. We'll go ahead and clear it out."

Two rats were the first visible spawns, both coming from opposite sides of the building and hissing before both taking simultaneous shots to the face. The shots alerted the inside rats, some who stayed stationary and others that scampered outside curiously. Jeremi and Blade quickly ran to opposite sides of the same wall.

The front door, Jeremi's side, opened by a push from the lead rat's head. Jeremi turned from the corner and shot through the door, hitting the rat in the side. Several more rats busted out behind the first, now sure of imminent threat. Jeremi smiled, placing his handgun back in his holster, and reaching for the photon sword on his left waist. The first rat arched its back and leaped towards him, but he just swiped his hand through the air, cutting it in half. Two more jumped at him. He ducked out of the way and sliced down, cutting one in half down the length of its body. Another jumped along with the one that landed behind him. He spun, kicking the one behind him, slicing through the other, then stabbing down at the one behind him.

Blade crouched low behind the building and snuck in through the broken glass of the back window. He quickly shot the three rats in the room, but some of the ones outside decided he would likely be easier prey than Jeremi and turned to him instead.

Jeremi smiled and charged forward, cutting all of them in a single slice. Jeremi sheathed the photon sword and walked into the building looking at the drop items list, a few credits as usual.

A dune buggy slammed its brakes outside, sending dust and gravel flying.

**(Bail)**

Carter slammed on the brakes outside an old, broken down building: the wood was rotting, the glass was broken, the roof was sinking, and the door was hanging on one of its hinges. Nevertheless, Carter smiled as he got out of the dune buggy. He led the way inside where two other people were standing. One was slightly shorter than Carter with short blonde hair and a long cape with the hood resting on his shoulders. On one of his shoulders was a strap that ended with an assault rifle, on one hip was a pistol and the other a photon sword. The other was slightly shorter than the first with red hair, a sniper rifle on his shoulder, and a pistol on his hip.

"Bail, Jeremi, the assassin," Carter said motioning to the first, "and Blade, the sniper," he said motioning to the other.

"Don't let that impress you, though," Jeremi said. "He's just the sniper because he was afraid of getting shot at." Carter and Jeremi both started laughing

"What are we doing, Jeremi?" Carter asked.

"Don't know. Still haven't decided on if we should go take out the bullet biters' ambush."

"Ambush?" Bail asked.

"Yeah, we found online what looked to be an ambush. They were talking about hiring a tank and everything."

"Who are they ambushing?"

"Don't know. They didn't say anything about that."

"So to the dungeons?" Carter asked.

"I guess." The three of them led the way out of the house, and Jeremi and Blade jumped on the back of the dune buggy. Carter got in the front seat and drove off.

"What's going to happen to the person they're ambushing?" Bail asked loudly over the noise of the dune buggy.

"They'll probably be looted," Jeremi yelled back. "But from the size of the crew they have, it looks more like they're planning for a squad."

The ride was silent for a minute, but then Bail checked her messages: the one sent the previous day by one of the Bullet Biters, still unopened, but all that was there was two, three digit numbers.

"Hey, what do these numbers mean?" Jeremi turned around, glanced at the panel, then quickly turned back around and started messing with his own panel. "What? What is it?" Carter glanced over at it, then slammed on the brakes, turning the dune buggy around. Blade jumped off the back and kneeled down, checking around with his sniper rifle. Carter got out and kneeled beside the dune buggy with his knife drawn.

"What's it say, Jeremi?" Carter asked. Jeremi slid his map around to show him, a crosshair over the spot the two numbers crossed.

**(Jeremi)**

"The destroyed temple," Jeremi said. He slid his map away and started looking through his inventory, making sure he was stocked on everything he needed.

"What about it?" Bail asked getting out of the dune buggy and looking around through her scope, not sure what else to do and feeling awkward about doing nothing.

"That's where they were planning the ambush."

"But why would they want to ambush me?"

"Don't be naive. Bullet Biters is a primitive clan. They're not going to ambush you, they're trying to intimidate you, give you more incentive to join their clan. It's initiation."

"Initiation?"

"Yeah, they're planning on forcing you to join. Once you show up, it's no longer an option. If you say no, they kill you and take your loot."

"So what are we doing?"

"Well beating the information out of them hasn't ever worked before, so I need to get you on the inside, and, more importantly, I need you higher than the average grunt since they don't even know what we need to know, and there's only one way I can see that working out."

**(Bail)**

Bail drove the dune buggy up to the abandoned temple where several other vehicles were parked. At least forty people were there, including two visible snipers and a tank. She got out and walked up old stone stairs where the man who sent her the message the day before was standing. Around him about seven, what appeared to be, escorts were standing each holding either an assault rifle, automatic hand gun, or a photon sword and a pistol.

"You came!" he said loudly causing the applause of many of the others. "We were starting to worry about you! I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Blood-Spangled Banner, but you can just call me Banner."

"What's with all the people?" she asked calmly, all her effort towards not looking intimidated.

"Dramatic effect," he said. "For, drum roll please…" the tank rolled the barrel of his minigun, definitely causing a snare-like sound. "Initiation!" Applause began again.

"Initiation?" Bail asked.

"Indeed. The blood pact." He stepped sideways to reveal a silver bowl behind him.

The eight of them walked around the bowl to form a circle, and Bail cautiously walked into the remaining space. Banner pulled out a knife and cut his palm over the bowl, small red hexes flowing out. He passed the knife to his left, continuing to do the same, until the knife came to be passed to Bail, to which it was instead passed to the other side of the bowl and passed right, ending in her. "Cut your hand, signifying the blood you may shed towards our achievement!" Bail pressed the knife against her hand and cut, causing a lot of pain.

The red hexes fell from her hand into the bowl and the whole crowd cheered, but the cheering was silenced by a fifty caliber bullet and the sound of the man to her right's head splitting. The crowd, including the seven remaining people standing at the bowl, took cover behind a rock, wall, or building. Banner looked up at one of the snipers and pointed outwards, instructing him to check for who was firing, but before the sniper could check, a red line hit him in the head just before the bullet did.

Then the firing stopped, a total of sixty Mississippis as Bail counted, then another shot, this one without a prediction line, and hit the other sniper out of the tower, then two more shots in quick succession hit two more members around the bowl, the prediction lines leading to the tower the first sniper was shot out of. Several members of the crowd stood and ran up the stairs leading to the top of the tower, but a series of screams and a few gun shots signaled that they didn't make it to the top. Banner got frustrated, then motioned to the third tower, the one Bail had not seen the sniper in. He placed his gun on the edge and aimed at the tower, but before he could fire, he was pulled back. He made an attempt to yell for help, but his voice had been cut short. Another prediction line hit one of the members around the bowl, but he dodged quickly. The tank jumped out of his hiding place and fired at the opening of the tower where the sniper was. A blue photon blade appeared out of thin air and stabbed through the tank's back, then disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Several people turned and aimed at the space the photon sword originated, but the bullets passed through open air.

Footsteps were heard quickly in the third tower, followed by Carter jumping out the opening and landing on one of the people around the circle and stabbing them in the head. The people around the circle turned and aimed at him. Carter quickly grabbed the closest one by the arm and twisted him between him and the rest of the circle as a human shield to absorb several shots. He dropped the body and spun around to the left and grabbing the next person, knife under his neck. He slit his throat and quickly moved to the next. He hit him in the stomach, then, as he was doubled over, grabbed his automatic hand gun and fired at the ground until the magazine was empty, then he disarmed him by striking down on his wrist. Prediction lines from behind him reappeared. Carter grabbed him by the underarm and flipped him over him, the bullets hitting him instead. The next person was Banner. Banner fired several shots at point blank range at Carter, but Carter dived to the ground and rolled behind him. He turned around and slashed at Carter with his knife, but Carter dodged back, swinging his hand up under his arm and holding him in a master lock pointed towards the first tower. A prediction line hit his forehead, but before the bullet could hit, another bullet hit Carter in the side of the head, slinging both of them out of the way of the sniper. Banner quickly stood up and seen Bail pointing her assault rifle at the place Carter had just been standing.

"Everyone! Get out of here!" he yelled. Everyone in the area ran for their vehicles in a mass herd as each person was looking for their own and firing behind them. Bail drove out last, looking back at the scene. Jeremi had appeared, setting his hood down on his shoulders, and gave Bail a thumbs up. A screen appeared and showed Carter's drop items: sixty credits.

**(Jeremi)**

"How's that?" Bail asked.

"Carter, give me all of your credits, but hold on to sixty," Jeremi said ignoring Bail's question.

"Roger," Carter said opening his panel. He quickly transferred his credits to Jeremi and jumped in the driver seat. Jeremi and Blade jumped back on the back and Bail quickly climbed into the passenger side seat.

"What are we doing?" Bail yelled back to Jeremi.

"You're going to shoot Carter," Jeremi yelled back. "The old Snape-Dumbledore trick. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. If you shoot Carter, they'll fully believe that you're on their side."

"Shoot Carter? How?"

"We've got information on their initiation ritual, and it's always the same. Group of eight 'High Admirals', as they call it, surrounded by a number of 'witnesses'. From there it's your generic blood mixing ritual."

"And they do that every time they get a new member? Eight 'High Admirals'?"

"For multiple people, they line up and give blood. Not too different. But either way, they've got a large number of members. The odds that there would be eight higher ups on anyways is pretty high."

"I don't understand, what does that have to do with me shooting Carter?"

"Just wait for your chance, you'll get it, but make sure you don't miss it." Jeremi's instructions were vague, although he seemed confident that they were more than helpful. Carter stopped the dune buggy and got out. Blade got off the back, but Jeremi remained seated. Bail switched over to the driver seat. "Come on, let's go. We don't have all day," Jeremi said putting his hood on his head and disappearing. Blade laid down on the ground and aimed his sniper rifle at the area. Carter laid beside him and handed him a radio earpiece.

Bail continued driving until she reached the ruins. Jeremi jumped off the back and ran around to the first tower, then looked around it rather than climb it.

"Okay guys, don't forget. After you get that first prediction line for them to follow, get out of there. Get to a different spot and wait sixty seconds so that your prediction line resets."

"Don't worry, Jeremi," Blade said. "This isn't our first rodeo."

"Also, make sure you don't hit Banner. He needs to see her shoot Carter so he can tell his superiors."

"Got it."

The first shot was fired and hit the man standing just to Bail's right. Blade zoomed out to see which sniper he was going to direct, then, when he knew, hit him right in the head.

"Let's move," Carter said standing up. Both swung out wide right to avoid coming into seeing range and came in closer when they were sure all the people in the ruins were either looking towards the desert or hiding and, therefore, not looking at all. The crouched around the low wall to the first tower. Jeremi crouched beside them and took off his hood.

"Blade, you're with me. Carter, get to the back tower and get ready." Carter nodded and moved around the tower towards the back. Jeremi pulled his pistol and climbed the tower first with Blade just behind him. When he was sure the tower was clear, Jeremi slid the first sniper's body out of the way and Blade sat his sniper rifle on the edge of the opening and aimed across at the other tower directly across from him.

"Sixty," he whispered and pulled the trigger. While everyone was looking around to see where the bullet came from, Blade quickly fired two more bullets at the circle. Several people broke from the hiding space and ran around the back of the tower. Jeremi put his hood back on and waited beside the staircase. The first came up and aimed an assault rifle at Blade, but Jeremi unsheathed his photon sword and cut it in half. He grabbed him by the arm and stabbed up through his chin then tossed him to the side. He slid off his hood and smiled. The next three people, scared as they were, aimed their guns at him. He used his photon sword to push all three guns to the side, causing the bullets to hit the wall and send rocks and dust out. He pulled out his pistol and shot two, then hit the third in the side of the head with the handle and stabbed him through the head. Five left all aimed up at him. He threw his hood back over him and disappeared, then quickly hid behind the wall. Three led the way up the stairs, aimed around the room, then focused on Blade. Jeremi pulled out his photon sword and decapitated all three in one slash. He grabbed another one by the wrist and stabbed him in the chest, then spun and cut the last in half.

Carter snuck up the back of the tower, but remained on the stairs. The third sniper was leaned against a wall with a grin on his face as he watched the scene, seemingly entertained. Banner motioned to him and he pulled out his sniper rifle and aimed at the first tower. Carter quickly snuck behind him, grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, and pulled him backwards to the ground. Carter pulled out his knife just as the sniper tried to yell for help, then cut his throat.

"Third sniper is clear, Jeremi," Carter said into his earpiece.

"Good, on my way for the tank now," Jeremi said running down the stairs and putting his hood over his head again. The tank jumped out of his hiding spot and aimed for the first tower, then proceeded to unleash his barrel on the opening. Blade ducked and got in a fetal position, covering his head and face from the rocks and debris from the stone walls around him. Jeremi dashed around him, then grabbed him by the neck and stabbed him through the back. Those around him all turned and, in a freak panic, shot randomly in the spot, but Jeremi dropped and planked on the ground.

Carter backed against the opposite wall in the tower then dashed towards the opening and jumped out, knife in hand, and landed on one of the people below knife first through their head. Prediction lines dotted his head. He quickly turned and grabbed the person next to him and twisted them to intercept the lines and, thus, the bullets. He dropped their body and quickly moved to the next, but only stopping long enough to slide the blade across their throat and move to the next. He punched them in the stomach then pulled the trigger on his automatic handgun and emptied the clip into the ground. He hit down on his wrist, forcing the gun out of his hand, then flipped him over him, causing him to absorb the next wave of bullets. Next was Banner. He fired several times at Carter, but Carter pushed his hand to the side and rolled around him. Banner pulled his knife out and slashed sideways at Carter, but he leaned back out of the way and hooked his own arm under Banner's. He turned behind him and held him in a master lock facing the first tower. A prediction line hit Carter in the side of the head shortly before one hit the center of Banner's head, but Carter didn't fight the prediction line to his side. The bullet hit him in the head, tossing him and Banner to the side and out of the way of the sniper.

Banner stumbled to his feet and took off towards the parked vehicles. "Everyone! Get out of here!" he shouted. The crowd dispersed like rats in light towards their vehicles, each person searching for their own. Bail got in her own and drove behind the others.

Jeremi took off his hood and gave her a thumbs up then turned back to the temple.

Blade ran down the stairs of the first tower.

"We got it right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jeremi said with a smile. "We got it." A window appeared in front of both of them with their drop items and credits. They closed them out and walked back to the edge of the temple. "I guess we're walking," he said with his hand over his brow and squinting. "Let's go."

**(Bail)**

"Cheers!" Banner said raising his glass of ale in Caliber Tavern. Several others repeated his shout and raised their own glass. "You did good, kid," Banner said as everyone drifted off to their own conversations. "Those guys are always giving us a hard time. Not the easiest to take down. Good job."

The 'party' ended and several people logged out or went out of SBC to do their own hunts or PKs. Bail walked out to the street and slid down her side console and logged out.

Bailey took off her AmuSphere and sat it down on the nightstand. She sat up on the edge of her bed.

_Why am I helping them?_ she thought. _I don't feel any obligation to help the Rebellion or the Bullet Biters. But, then again, Carter didn't have an obligation to help me, but nevertheless spent a lot of money buying equipment for me__._ Bailey honestly didn't have a reason to help either of them or to even get involved at all, but she still had an urge to help the Rebellion, for whatever reason. Not that they needed help, as Carter had said before.

Her phone vibrated with a notification from in-game.

From: Jeremi  
>Subject: Your Pay<br>Hey, it's Jeremi. You did a good job today. I trust they allowed you into their inner circle? Either way, they probably wouldn't have told you yet. Anyways, about your pay. Feel free to keep the sixty credits from Carter's drop. Also, here's your pay. It's enough to pay your connection fee for the month. Keep up the good work and there's more where that came from.  
>Attachment: 300000 credits<p> 


End file.
